E-Commerce Directly Linking Farmers and The Market

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Agriculture is either the biggest employer or the biggest contributor to GDP in Africa, in some countries, taking a lead in both. Juma is a small scale farmer in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. His speciality is maize. Last year he harvested fifty bags each weighing 90 kilograms of maize. Sadly, his financial situation continues to deteriorate. Post-harvest crisis hits and Juma ends up selling his produce at a throwaway price. How? Once he harvests, human scarecrows otherwise known as middlemen with a ‘better access’ to the market buy the produce from the gullible farmers. They buy at low prices which is frustrating, to later sell at high market prices. Juma and other farmers have developed defensive mechanisms, they have decided to store their produce and sell when there are better prices. But for how long will this charade last?

There is good news, a ray of hope or what we like to call light at the end of the tunnel. E-commerce has dawned in the agricultural sector. Inspired by his parents who were farmers, John Kinyua-a Kenyan youth has developed Mkulima Bora app that allows farmers to reach out directly to consumers thereby eliminating brokers who have been a persistent headache to the farmers in Africa.

The app has an approximated 2,000 farmers currently registered with at least 200 users on a daily basis. The numbers on social media are appealing as they have 13,000 users and clients.  The number of maize farmers accessing and actively using the app is estimated at 1200. The app is unique in that they have made Artificial Intelligence (AI) the backbone of the platform.  This studies consumer behaviour and interests in order to provide farmers with quality markets.

The AI identifies the demand for products in specific locations. It does an analysis and channels of product requests and orders according to the level of demand in a certain area. Moreover, the app is linked to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to increase the target markets for farmers. When a farmer posts his products through the SMS service, the product sees its way to social media hence acting as a connection between the global market and the farmer.  In 2016 and 2017, Mkulima bora app experienced a major breakthrough serving approximately 15,000 farmers in Malawi.